Mother Malice
by Mystic Cake
Summary: Riviera AU where Malice is Ein's mother, and how I think that would affect the story. Thanks to weighed and measured for the vote of confidence! rated T for suggestive themes, moderate violence and some language
1. Waking up

Mother Malice

Disclaimer: I don't own Riviera nor any of its makers… blah blah blah don't sue me please.

Author's note- First chapter starts one day before Riviera begins, just to let you all know. This chapter will be told like a 3rd person following Ein, then it'll be Malice in later chapters (since the story is supposed to be about her), I'll let you know. Again, this is my first fanfic so please please PLEASE leave a review with constructive criticism; thank you ^_^

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Chapter 1: Waking Up

Ein was tired, same as always. He woke up tired and went to sleep tired; and his fatigue had no mystery as to its origin: he was in a state the doctor he visited described as "Rookie's First Big Mission Syndrome", a very self-explanatory title. Tomorrow was the big day: the day he was to begin a long and most likely fatal mission across the heavenly island of Riviera to begin the Retribution, and see it through to the end. Ein was often anxious, nervous, depressed, all unhealthily mixed with confusion.

"Why me? Certainly there are many other angels who could do a much better job than me… I'm still new…" Ein often asked himself.

Ein's companion for the mission was Ledah, an angel infinitely more qualified and skilled compared to Ein. Ledah felt no fear at his first mission during the times of Ragnarok, which Ein wasn't even born until long after; making Ein feel still more inferior to his colleague.

If you put the two of them next to each other, their many differences become _very_ apparant. For one, Ledah was at least a foot taller than Ein; two, Ein had brown chestnut-like hair, an oddity compared to Ledah's typical angel blond; and three, Ein was very... inexperienced looking just by himself, with Ledah Ein looked like a child wearing adult clothes with an angel's weapon- clothes that were too clean to have been in any sort of battle, shaky sword arm, and he had a very naive and innocent air about him. Ledah by sharp contrast was very imposing- his clothes were clean enough, but every few inches there were cut marks and stains (blood and/or dirt) placed in an almost uniform fashion; very calm, composed stance: both while fighting and when not; and an air that seemed to choke anyone nearby with experience, wisdom, strength, and authority. _Clearly_ the two shouldn't be working together- just by a glance you could tell all that; A much better partner for Ledah would be Malice, Ein's mother.

Malice was just a hair shorter than Ledah, but she looked just as intimidating. It seemed Malice permanantly held a disgusted or angry look on her face (or at least most of the time), but especially when she was yelling at Ein for doing something foolish and when she talked to strangers, like Ledah. The two only met once before, and they were more alike than they seemed at a glance. Both were vastly ahead of Ein in experience and... age (just don't say that out loud), both had golden blond hair and fair skin, both were held in high esteem by the magi and both had some sort of connection with Ein- which was the only reason they met at all. Like Ein, her clothes were all clean almost to a point of obsession (she did all of the cleaning since Ein was often too lazy) but, unlike Ein or Ledah, she had a violent streak about her- she was never afraid to throw the first punch or to provoke it; a quality seen as very odd among disciplined angels- especially to both timid Ein and stone-faced Ledah. But her violence often stems from fixing Ein's mistakes or to protect him, once a fellow angel dared to call her "mama bear", which she took as a _compliment_; greatly surprising Ein who expected her to take his head off.

Few angels even tried to cheer Ein up from his depressed state- they mostly avoided him like he had some plague, mostly to not make themselves feel any worse- all except for Malice, but she always said words that Ein didn't always listen to; mostly including: "You're overreacting", or "It won't be as bad as you think". Rose also tried to cheer him up, and like Malice, had no success in doing so.

Today was Ein's last day on Asgard, probably forever, why should today be any different? Ein woke up the same, took a bath the same, got dressed the same, and didn't eat his breakfast the same and looked at the clock the same- 5:27 am; all before Malice or Rose even woke up, as usual.

Ein walked into the silent street, then promptly turned around and ascended the stairs to the roof of his whitewashed apartment building, where his holy diviner Einher Jar laid, ever so carefully with a clean white cloth wrapped carefully around its every curve.

Ein very carefully unwrapped Einher Jar and simply stared at if for a while, taking in its unique shape, color and shine. Something about the diviner just mesmerized Ein every time he saw it; it didn't seem to affect Malice the same way, or Rose or any other angel for that matter.

Once Ein was satisfied and utterly convinced in his still-tired mind that the diviner wasn't going to change no matter how long he looked at it for, Ein simply stared out at the street, now finally woken up and bustling with people going about their daily business. Ein was surprised, to say the least; he must've been looking at his sword for at least a couple hours.

Ein stared out at the street just for something to do, and as always he found something to gawk at at the hot springs just across the street.

Three radiant beauties were sitting in the women's section of the springs, talking ever so softly and blissfully unaware of Ein staring at their every movement, listening to their every sound. Ein couldn't recognize any of the three, but that didn't matter. Ein guessed that the three were all sisters, two of them probably twins due to their uncanny resemblance to one another (at least from what Ein could tell from no less than 30 feet away).

Ein reminisced about when he was young and wanted to live in this particular apartment because "it had a nice view" once Ein grew up he realized how true his words were as a child- and so did Malice sometimes.

Ein refocused his attention on the springs. Like most angels, all three had golden blond hair- two with long hair just past their shoulders and one with extremely long hair past her… perfect… waist area… (Ein stared at her the longest) Other than hair length and other… more perverse features; Ein could see little detail due to the steam from the springs and distance between them.

Ein stared for what he supposed was at least 15 minutes, and none of them even thought of looking up and seeing his face not 50 feet away. Unknown to Ein, however, he was already discovered; Malice was right behind him and waiting for the right moment to finally sink her boot into his back for peeping (again). But she hesitated; the perfect moment didn't seem to come, so finally she decided to kick him repeatedly anyways. Ein was caught completely by surprise, then as a reflex he turned around and got a punch to the face, causing his second nosebleed for the day and effectively knocking him off his feet.

"Don't you ever learn?" Malice barked once she dragged Ein back inside. Malice was _way _past angry, as she often was with Ein whenever he did something like this.

"No" Ein said simply, he didn't care, he decided a while ago that if he died on his mission tomorrow it didn't matter what he did today.

Malice was caught slightly off guard from Ein's simple reply to her demanding question (normally Ein's excuses are some crazy story like he was walking in the street and a giant kung-fu trained talking snail attacked him blah blah all lies, more than 95% of the time made up on the spot), but it didn't really surprise her at his simplicity, he was clinically depressed.

"Ein, this isn't the best thing to do on your last day before your mission; you should be preparing and getting everything together so you don't forget to bring anything essential..." Malice continued lecturing Ein on the importanceof being prepared, but it was all mostly repetition of what she just said, so Ein sort of spaced out subtly, he didn't want another beating.

"If you were to forget something like... Are you even listening!?" Malice yelled, probably as loud as she could muster this early in the morning.

"Of course I was, last time I didn't listen you yelled even louder." Ein said back, relatively calmly.

The last time Ein dared to not listen to Malice was when Ein first took the test to become a Grim Angel, just after the physical examination part of the test. Malice was much stronger than Ein, and while she was proud of him that he passed, she told him all of the things he should have done, a lecture which lasted for a few hours. Ein decided not to listen after the first few minutes, so once she figured out she did more than just yell, she punched him square in the stomach; after which he listened carefully to everything she said.

"What did I just say then?" Malice demanded, quite coldly.

"Does it matter what your last words were?" Ein said, feigning sadness to cleverly manipulate Malice to re-focus her attention on his depression rather than his recent actions.

While Malice was busy apologizing, Ein quickly glanced around the room for Rose, and had no luck in doing so.

"Where's Rose?" Ein asked

"If you were paying any attention at all when I told you not to forget important things, then you would know Rose is in the kitchen eating her breakfast, like you should be!" Malice scolded, not quite as loud as before.

"Yes, mother" Ein said pathetically (he only called Malice his mother when she acted like it, like if she constantly nagged him or demanded him to do domething in a bossy way- this time was both) there was really no point arguing against eating; after all this excitement this morning he was quite hungry, maybe a bit of food will do some good... or not...

A slice of bread (stale), 3 pieces of charred black bacon, and a hopefully fresh piece of fruit made up the whole of Ein's breakfast; a bit better than usual. Rose enjoyed the fact that she ate better than Ein, and she often teased him about it, to both her own and Malice's pleasure.

With a valiant effort Ein managed to finish his meal, then he left to go to his last day for battle training; which most angels enjoyed.

_At least it's gotta be more exciting than anything going on here. _Ein thought as he left. _Since ma expects me to peep again_.

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Author's Note- reading my reviews (or review for now), gave me the impression that I didn't clarify why Malice was hitting Ein, so I will endeavor to explain that now. I don't support hitting children, but this _is_ a different world I'm writing about with different measurements on what is ok when it comes to parenting; since angels are expected to be disciplined, they need strict punishments as children- in other words: hitting. Besides, Ein is pretty much an adult doing adult things (I can think of a few off the top of my head- saving the world and peeping on girls included, although I suppose it doesn't take an adult to save the world) Obviously that doesn't mean I think it's ok... in most cases...


	2. Final Hours in Heaven

Mother Malice

Disclaimer- see chapter 1

Author's note- ok, now this is the NEW chapter 2, and this time I promise it will follow the story I want it to, so no more big changes like before- I hope. Oh yeah and as a sort of warning, if a whole sentence or sentences are in italics it's what someone is thinking, using quotes is too close to talking and it confuses me and not using quotes is just weird... you can usually tell who is thinking by the context of the situation and what is being thought. It's just how I do things, and I doubt if anyone else does it exactly the same so bear with me, and enjoy!

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Chapter II: Final Hours in Heaven

"I know for a fact that I told you all of this after your physical test, so why didn't you remember?" Malice continued her lecture that has lasted so far since the end of battle practice.

"I can't remember every little detail about how to fight as good as 'Mighty Malice' can." Ein said, contemplating going back to the roof to see if any more girls were bathing, despite anything Malice would do to try to stop him, or perhaps even going for a relaxing bath himself- at least she couldn't follow him there.

The battle practice went well, at least until the final round when Ein lost and he had to do the intense conditioning that everyone else had to do, evidently to Malice's great displeasure. Now Ein's clothes were covered in dirt, sweat and other various fluids- hopefully all his own. Needless to say the last thing Ein wanted now was another argument with his mother.

"What if you were to forget such important things while fighting a demon? Will they also just let you walk away and try again?" Malice said in a very matter-of-fact way.

"No, they wouldn't, and everything you have ever said about the subject was right and everything I said was completely wrong; are we done?" Ein said in a pathetic attempt to escape, which obviously only made things 10 times worse.

Malice resisted a great urge to hit him, finally only being surpressed by the recurring thought that today was his last day before his big mission to Riviera.

"Just go wash up, I'll cook dinner." Malice said very calmed tone.

Ein quickly glanced around the room for Rose, and saw her watching the whole ordeal in the kitchen/dining room, utterly expressionless, the truth was that Rose didn't know how to react- if she should feel sorry for Ein, side with Malice or just cackle quietly to herself; or maybe some combination of the three.

Satisfied, Ein then bounded up the stairs as fast as his sore and exhausted body could manage to wash everything off of himself.

"How'd he do?" Rose asked Malice once they were both sure Ein was out of earshot.

Before Malice said anything, she swiftly and with surprising grace cut up a raw fish, dumped a small handful of salt on it and tossed it in front of Rose, mostly by reflex. Rose didn't like raw fish, but the best thing to do was to just eat what Malice graced you with, because she wasn't going to make anything else.

"He did alright, I suppose; at least until he lost." Malice said, still slightly saddened with the thought of Ein's departure the next morning.

Rose stared at the salt-loaded fish for a moment, both summing up the courage to take the first bite and thinking of a response to Malice at the same time. After a pause of nearly half a minute both courage and words came to her.

"He's still just a kid by any angel standard, you can't expect him to fight as good as you- or heaven forbid, better than you- when he's still so young and inexperienced in _real _battle." Rose said in between bites of her fish.

Malice smirked for a moment. "It _would_ be quite impressive, but he needs all the preparation he can get for tomorrow. Honestly if I were on this mission instead of him, I would be strained to survive the whole thing. So much time almost alone against a probable demon army is tough to swallow, even for a veteran grim angel; I'm just worried for him I guess." Malice said, smile now gone.

"You're his mother, that's your job to worry for his safety. Anyone else but me would tell you 'don't worry, he's with Ledah, he's the best there is' but I know that isn't going to change anything." Rose said, now taking the final bites of her fish with great effort.

"Ledah is just another angel to me, what would comfort me is that you'll be with him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Malice said, it was more of a request (or in Malice's case, a demand) than she made it sound, if Rose was going with Ein or not was still unclear to her.

Rose swallowed hard at Malice's implication. Rose didn't plan on going with Ein- she would just get in his way. A simple look of mixed fear and confusion was all it took for Malice to know what Rose's answer to her 'request' was. Malice gave Rose an icy intimidating look that said 'go on, I dare you to say you actually aren't going to help my one and only child on his first big mission while I sit home and pray for his safety'. Rose was so paralyzed with fear that her mind was a complete blank, all she could do was carefully watch Malice's every move. After a moment's pause Malice's response was to rise from her seat- still with her icy glare- and take a step towards Rose, in other words, instill more fear to eclipse the old fear.

"I'm sure everything will be great... and fun... and safe..." Rose said, backing away a step and a half.

_Yes! I win, furball! HA! Fear beats laziness any day!_ Malice giggled with joy on the inside, _now to calm her before Ein gets back and sees me harassing his familiar._

"If you're so spirited for the mission, is there any reason you are so tense?" Malice said, now much warmer and with a calming smile on her face. Malice grabbed an applecot from the pantry and tossed it to Rose, a sort of reward for correctly passing the test.

_Great, an applecot for risking my life... Well, I suppose it is for the better, since Ein would probably forget how to dress himself without someone to guide him, and Ledah certainly isn't going to help him! _Rose joyfully took a large bite out of the applecot and savored its sweet flavor. _A nice improvement over that salty fish!_

With a precise grace similar to her fish-preparation, Malice quickly made up a simple meal of rice and some unknown meat for Ein, then waited for Ein to finally finish washing up. After a few minutes of impatiently waiting for Ein, Malice looked at the clock and thought for a minute or two; she then took a deep breath, punched the table with her bare fist and stomped upstairs. Rose was more than a little confused at Malice making her excessively loud exit and wondered at why she was so angry, she got her answer about 30 seconds later.

Ein was dragged by the back of his collar down the stairs, with a large bruise on his face and a bloody nose; his hair was still dripping wet from washing it; It was an easy guess what he was really doing.

_At least he had the decency to wash first! _Rose mentally cackled as she took another large bite out of the applecot, finishing just about every edible bite of it that could be found._ He probably just washed to better fantasize being there with them!_

Silently Malice propped Ein in his own designated chair and equally silently Ein started to eat his actually decent-tasting food. For a minute or two Ein wondered if the food he was eating was actually for Rose, but the applecot core still left on the floor told him otherwise. Ein felt more than a little paranoid at the deathly silence the world seemed to fall to as they all watched him eat food that actually had _taste_ for a nice change- it was quite unsettling.

As Ein was finishing slowly and quietly eating his food, there was a knock at the door; and Malice bounded out of the kitchen to get it. Ein didn't hear her greet the visitor, and he hardly even noticed there was a knock until Malice came into the kitchen with the visitor- Ledah.

Ledah looked calm and composed, as always. Even now he grasped as he was visiting the home of a comrade he grasped his diviner in his hand. _ever the vigilant one in case of an unprovoked attack from the demon clearly following him wherever he goes_ Malice thought, rolling her eyes and now a bit cautious herself.

"Hello Ein, I came to see if you were ready for the mission tomorrow." Ledah said, as dull and soulless as ever.

"I am ready, but when do we leave tomorrow; and where are we meeting?" Ein said, he was never told specifically what time he was to wake up and walk out, probably forever.

"How about just outside in the street when you are ready?" Ledah said, probably someone else's idea since the elder grim angels are rarely so willing to waste their time waiting for a rookie to prepare.

"Where will you be at that time?" Ein asked, surely Ledah wasn't going to wait out there for Ein all morning until he was ready.

"I will be right outside, and if I'm not there, then I applaude you for such promptness and you will wait." Ledah said. _Was that a joke? It's hard to tell..._

"Ok, I'll get ready as quickly as possible to not keep this journey waiting." Ein said, with a surprising effort to add a touch of eagerness to please his superior angel.

"Very good, now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." Ledah said as he walked outside and immediately took off to continue his probably busy schedule.

Overall, Ein was quite satisfied with the whole ordeal. Well_, I suppose today wasn't as bad as I had previously predicted it would be. _Ein thought,_ I hope tomorrow goes as well..._

The rest of the night went on without incident, but the next morning was far from good...

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Immediately after waking up Ein decided to would be better if he snuck out extra early to avoid any teary good-byes from Malice- especially if Ledah was present at the time. So he did everything absolutely silently- he got up silently, took a bath silently, got dressed silently, woke up Rose semi-silently, and snuck out the front door with extra silence. Once he closed the door, he turned to leave and sure enough, there was Malice sitting on a bench across the street and on her lap laid Einher Jar, next to her stood Ledah, diviner in hand and looking like he had been up and waiting for hours, but he didn't look the slightest bit like he was in a hurry or annoyed at his comrade's tardiness.

_It's difficult to tell, wouldn't he be the slightest bit annoyed at the fact that he is literally saving the world and his partner was busy getting dressed? _Malice thought as she glanced at Ledah's reaction to Ein's failed attempt at a silent exit. _Ein is so predictable, he thought he could sneak out early without a teary good-bye, but I've got a better idea..._

_Damn! Not only an I going to get a teary good-bye from mom, but I forgot my diviner, which will probably lead to a lecture about forgetting important things right in front of Ledah! Damn, damn and DAMN! _Ein thought as he nervously approached Malice. Still this encounter didn't go quite as expected.

With silence that not only surprised but disturbed Ein, Malice stood up, handed Ein his diviner and hugged him- all without a single word or tear. Ein grasped his diviner with both hands and started to walk away, Rose walking still half-asleep and probably clueless as to what just transpired.

"Be good Ein, that means I don't want any surprise grandchildren you had with a sprite girl while you're there! Love you! Have fun; but not too much!" Malice yelled at the top of her lungs, not only breaking the silence of this early morning but utterly humiliating Ein right in front of Ledah in the process. Ein's face immediately flushed, then frantically he looked back at Ledah, who simply stood there like nothing happened. Ledah made no comment towards it, but relief didn't come though, since Rose was laughing hysterically the whole way to the entrance to Heaven's Gate.

_Impressive, not even a smirk; he really is stone faced! I suppose the sacrifice is quite thorough in that sense... _Malice thought as she waved goodbye, albeit futile since none of the three were looking in her direction.

_But is that a good sign or a bad omen? I wonder if Ledah ever had a similar experience with his mother..._ Malice smirked as she returned inside

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Author's Note- You know, it just occurred to me that since I am working under a T rating, I can actually have some swear words when appropriate, which I haven't used any of yet (excluding the 4 damns above), maybe a sign of things to come? (Malice does seem like the type to use such words, at least to me she does)


	3. Next of Kin

Mother Malice

Author's Note- now I'm going to fast-forward a bit relative to the events from Riviera to a bit after the battle with Aghart, one day after to be more specific. Oh, and now the story will follow exclusively Malice for the rest of the story, at least I hope it will. Other than that, I have nothing to say... Enjoy!

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Chapter 3: Next of Kin

It began as a typical morning, but it was significantly quieter than usual. Malice got up, washed herself, got dressed, and proceeded through her normal morning schedule- save for preparing breakfast for Ein. Once she was done eating her own breakfast she simply sighed and sat in the dark morning kitchen. Some tears fell from her face, but she took no notice of them, she could only think of what Ein may be doing now on his mission.

Hours passed, and all manner of improbable situations Ein may or may not be in or have been in flashed through her head. Malice was thinking of what Ein may do if Ledah were to die first (a highly improbable situation, bordering on impossibility) when there was a soft knock on the door. Malice didn't hear it in her own world at first, but once the visitor knocked a second time a bit louder she noticed and dragged herself to the front door. Malice rested her hand on the knob for at least a minute before she summed up the desire to open it, and she was very surprised at what she saw.

An angel robed in violet with dark blue hair stood a full foot lower than Malice's normal vision level, but his staff stood at least 2 feet taller than him, making noticing him not a problem. The visitor's hair was fairly long, his bangs just long enough to block a view of his eyes; his face was quite young looking, almost childish in appearance, but looks were very deceiving as to the true nature of the visitor in front of Malice now.

The visitor was none other than Hector, one of the 7 magi that oversee the operations of all Grim Angels. Malice knew Hector was the one in charge of Ein and Ledah's mission, and his presence meant only bad news- either one of them died, they both died, or for some reason Hector decided to cancel the mission- which even if that was the situation it would be more likely Ein would return and tell her about it, such a duty is too insignificant to take up the time of the busy magi.

"Come in, and please have a seat, exalted magi. Would you like something to eat?" Malice offered, she was quite starstruck, a magi visiting even the most important Grim Angel is a rarity, and a great honor; despite his obviously grim tidings.

"Thank you dear, and no; I've already eaten, but coffee would be nice." Hector said weakly.

Hector began for the kitchen, but he walked very slowly, as if he were carrying a great weight on his back, and he leaned on his staff of office with his whole body. Wordlessly, Malice took one of his arms around her shoulders (bending her knees a bit to make up for the height difference) and she half-carried him into the kitchen.

Obviously Hector was very fatigued, as he wobbled his way into the kitchen he was leaning heavily on his staff with one arm and equally heavily on Malice's larger frame with the other arm; his face was battered and beaten as if he'd been up for weeks with no rest. Dark circles clouded his eyes, which seemed to barely be able to keep themselves open.

"I will get straight to why I came; my reasons for coming are twofold; a grim tiding I'm sure you expected being one of them." Hector said before he even sat down. Hector seemed to be having great difficulty even speaking, between each word or two he had to exhale and take another breath.

_What's he been up to that makes him so fatigued?_ Malice thought, almost out loud to change the subject.

Malice returned her thoughts to Hector's reasons for coming, and she sighed deeply- she knew what was coming, the only mysteries remaining were who died of the two of them and what his second reason for coming was. Malice made a pretty good guess for the former, but the latter remained shrouded in mystery. To desperately fool herself into thinking she didn't know what was coming next she focused on making the coffee with more haste.

"Your son, Ein, has been lost in battle against an accursed guarding the final approach to the heavenly island of Riviera; I'm sorry..." Hector said, very genuinely offering his condolences for her loss, still in his near-exhaustion it seemed he was about to shed a tear or two; his eyes watered, but nothing came out.

A long moment of unsettling silence passed, it seemed like neither of them were even breathing. Minutes passed, still not a word or movement; until finally Hector broke the silence.

"Are you alright?"

"At least I can take comfort in knowing he died against such a potent breed of demon..." Malice said, fighting back a veritable ocean of tears.

Malice finished preparing a pitcher of coffee, she shakily poured a cup for Hector and handed it to him; his hand shook twice as much as he grasped it and placed it on the table for the time being. Hector took a few sips after a momentary pause, which visibly made him feel better.

"You misinterpret what I said- I said _lost,_ not _killed. _I was told all this by Ledah- a guardian spirit took him away once the accursed was slain, we can only assume what happened to him after. Another thing Ledah wanted to make perfectly clear is that _Ein _was the one who killed the accursed, Ledah claimed minimal credit for its demise." Hector explained between sips of coffee, which perked him up a bit.

_Are you joking? Ein, kill an accursed? One that Ledah couldn't? Now I'm pretty sure he's just flat out lying just to make me feel better, but that's understandable, I suppose. At any rate, it really doesn't help much..._

"Are you alright?" Hector repeated after a minute or two of silence.

"Let's just move off the subject please, what's the other reason you came?" Malice said, more than a little surprised at his continued sympathy for her feelings; not like that made much a difference, her grief greatly eclipsed any other feelings.

"I understand, but this may appear to you as even more depressing than the previous news... Maybe not depressing, more like shocking... or disturbing... at any rate, are you ready for it?" Hector said; Malice guessed his inability to properly explain was a result of his lack of sleep. _Was surprising what he was looking for? Maybe that's just not strong enough, I guess I'll find out..._

"I'm ready for anything." Malice said, a clear lie, a small forced smile added a hint of eagerness.

"You have been chosen to take Ein's place on the mission to Riviera" Hector said flatly, without any of his previous kindness and/or fatigue.

_Am I surprised? Not quite, more like massively pissed off and insulted! Does he really expect me to take a mission on the same day my only child died? Much less the exact mission he died on! What happened to honoring the dead? Or feeling sorry for the family!?_

"By the look on your face, I can guess you aren't happy with your new assignment." Hector said, with a tranquility that only served to make Malice angrier, but since he was a magi Malice stifled her anger and urge to punch his face in.

_Does he even understand the pain I'm in? I suppose he never really could, but he has to know I'm never going to accept this. Whose damn stupid idea was it to pick me for Ein's replacement, anyways!?_ Malice calmed a bit at the thought, or rather just redirected her frustration toward a target other than Hector.

"It's a bit too early for me to take _any_ mission, much less one that took my son. I'm sorry, your grace, but I cannot accept such an assignment." Malice said with enough of a calm tone to surprise the magi visibly.

"You're not going to like this, Malice, but I must invoke the Rite of Conviction for this assignment; you do know what that means, don't you?" Hector said quite nastily, all manner of tranquility lost from his now cold, uncaring voice.

Malice knew what the Rite of Conviction was, it was a tool for desperate magi to force an angel to do an assignment or else be immediately executed or banished, if they were lucky; if they were unlucky, extreme torture until death.

_Backstabbing bastard! What it means it you're willing to kill a mother with a recent dead son to get a replacement! If he weren't a magi I'd rip his head off and shove it in the same place I'd like shove his assignment, someplace I'm about to kick him in. I swear to god, if he was the one who suggested to the other magi to assign me to this mission _and _pulled this Rite crap on top of that, I'll kill him in a heartbeat!_

Malice didn't have the patience to ask him that now, so she just said what came to her first.

"Get out of my house, NOW" Malice said with a deadly fury in her voice, barely managing not to scream at him and/or violate his body with her diviner, which lay against the wall next to her, easily within reaching distance.

Hector nodded and silently rose out of his seat and walked out of the kitchen, this time not leaning on his staff like a tired old man. Malice watched him with silent fury as he left the kitchen, she then followed him to the front door. Hector slowly opened the front door, then as he stood in the open doorway he turned and spoke.

"You have until 3 this afternoon to go to the entrance to Heaven's Gate, if you are even a minute late I will assume you refuse and I **will **carry out the Rite myself. You have been warned, and thank you for the coffee." Hector stated in a serious tone as he walked outside into the busy street, quietly closing the door in the process.

Malice stood in momentary shock at what just transpired. After a slow recovery she began to cry, but she again took no mind of it. Silent in mind and body she walked back into the kitchen, picked up the half-filled coffee cup Hector had been drinking from, started to bring it to the sink, stopped and threw it against the wall, shattering the cup and splashing coffee on the wall; a shard of the cup flew perfectly at Malice and cut her left cheek, it bled lightly, but she didn't notice or care.

"Someday you'll get yours, you SON OF A B**CH!" Malice screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell on her knees sobbing.

It wasn't even 9 in the morning yet, and all this already happened...

* * *

"Ah, so nice you came Malice, and quite early, too! Nice and prompt with your orders as always!" Hector sneered. Malice offered no reply, other that a low growl; Hector either didn't hear it or pretended not to.

"As a gift from me to you, I offer you this Immoral Rosary, I gave one just like it to your son before he left; but it was broken in the battle against the accursed." Hector said, with a surprising tone of sincerity; Malice didn't buy it. Hector reached in the folds of his robes and took out the gold cross known to give grim angels strength, then he outstretched his hand for Malice to take it. Malice hesitated, wondering if he was serious; As if he read her mind Hector nodded and even added a little smile, and Malice cupped her hands under his and he dropped in in her hands.

"It's got the same color and shine as Einher Jar..." Malice thought out loud. Hector pretended to not hear her. Malice turned away from Hector and put the rosary on, then slid it under her outer robe and the black shirt under it; then she turned back to face Hector with a bit less hate than before. _Closer to my heart that way..._

"Now for your current orders; Ledah awaits your arrival at the edge between Riviera and Heaven's Gate, once you meet him and summon me the usual way." Hector said, taking extra care not to sound condescending like he would to a rookie angel.

"I understand your grace, and I must apologize for my earlier behavior." Malice said as she bowed deeply to the magi.

"I apologize as well, I let my sense of duty cloud my eyes to who I was talking to. I did not take your feelings of losing your son into account, but now isn't the time; we both understand and forgive as angels should, now duty calls." Hector said, with a faint hint of a smile on his face.

"Of course, I will leave immediately; but first of course..." Malice said quickly.

Both of them closed their eyes and prayed, then Hector quietly spoke a prayer in ancient Asgardian language, ending with "May you grant us, the faithful, your surest protection, O heavenly father; and punish the wicked who harm our kin. Amen" clearly he was paying homage to Ein.

"Amen" Malice parroted a moment later, and off she flew.

_Perhaps he isn't as bad as I thought, but I still hate him for that damn Rite! Anyways, what's with him being so kind suddenly? Back at the house he was so... demanding, putting that in more blunt terms, a flat-out jackass; why the change of heart?_

* * *

Author's Note- Yay, done again! (rereads own work) hm, a bit excessive in the profanity department (revises). Kind of weird how last chapter I talked about using like no profanity and here I think I used too much, it's better now though. Oh, and before any of you Rose fans start to hate me for the lack of Rose this chapter, I fully realize she wasn't even mentioned at all this chapter, but in this context Ein's 'death' basically would make Malice think 'Rose who?', so yeah... besides, Rose wasn't really a major character in Riviera and I forget her a lot as a result; so my bad, get over it.


	4. Seeking Answers

Mother Malice

Author's Note- Ugh, so little done, and so much more planned. I guess this is what being a writer is like- ideas running far ahead of where I am in the story. Got a sort of experiment lined up for later chapters, probably not going to work but it's worth a shot. Anyways, nothing pertinent for now so enjoy! (I say that a lot, i know, it's because I care what you think ^_^)

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Chapter 4: Seeking answers

"How many of you fu**ing bastards are there!?" Malice screamed as she swung her diviner in a massive arc at full force, knocking a row of demons off their feet. Backed to a wall and close to exhausted, Malice still fought with deadly determination. There had to be at least 30 demons in front of her, at least 19 of them visibly scared and wishing they were somewhere else; Malice had already killed about 50 of their comrades right in front of them, and she successfully gave them the impression that she was neither happy nor tired (she wasn't happy, but she _was_ tired, but she acted like she wasn't).

"This isn't worth it, I'm outta here!" A demon panicked, and sprinted in the opposite direction of Malice, followed by several others.

"Where do you damn cowards think you're going!?" A demon knight yelled back at them, not ten feet from Malice he foolishly looked away from his opponent, a soon to be fatal mistake.

_Clearly the leader, now's my chance! _Malice smriked as she rushed forward and sliced his head clean off with one swing, he never saw it coming. Malice quickly retreated to her wall, then watched the effect on the rest of the demons. More demons panicked and fled, leaving only a few that seriously contemplated running away as well, they collectively decided to run a bit too late.

A momentary rest giving her the strength, the moment they turned their backs on her, Malice struck. Pushing off the wall to a running start, she quickly took flight just barely off the ground. Gliding swiftly just above them, her shadow resembled death swinging his fatal scythe, all of them fell in one graceful swing; headless, each face a permanent expression of terror on his face- one of which was crying when he met his end.

After catching her breath, Malice surveyed the pathway through the tunnels, littered with corpses of different varieties of demon; all bloodied and quite dead, it made walking without tripping over them quite a challenge. Malice walked back the wall she had used to take refuge against the army of demons, there she sat and rested.

Once she was sufficiently comfortable, Malice grasped her Immoral Rosary with both hands, tears quickly followed. Just as quickly as they came, her tears left once she realized she was bleeding quite profusely from just above her right ankle and just below her left elbow. Once she noticed them and registered what they were, immense pain shot through Malice's body.

_Shoot! When did those happen!? Damn they hurt, but there isn't time to rest and recover; Ledah's waiting! No rest for the battle weary! _Malice grinned as she prepared to fly; but just before she lifted off the ground, something caught her eye. The headless demon-knight-captain Malice killed had a bloody and slightly rusted iron locket barely kept on his neck by a fragment of chipped bloody bone. Curious enough to overwhelm her nausea, Malice picked it up and opened it.

A charming picture of the knight and a young demon girl who looked very much like the knight standing very close to one another, both smiling widely; this was the sight Malice was greeted with when she opened the locket. Malice stared at the locket for some time, and came to the conclusion the girl had to be his younger sister or his daughter- more likely his sister since if it was his daughter then the girl's mother would probably also be in the picture.

Tears quickly welled up in Malice's eyes._ Do demons have families too? We were always taught that demons are heartless, and do not value family in the least, if that is true then what is this? _Malice wondered while wiping the tears from her eyes. Once she was done crying, Malice placed the locket on the knight's body, placing it on his chest and covering it with his armored hands.

_Closer to his heart that way, just in case he has one..._ Malice prayed for the knight, then flew off.

* * *

"You're late... and bloodied? You needn't tell me what occurred, it's a simple guess." Ledah said as Malice approached, Ledah was very awake and quite alert when Malice caught his attention, which was probably long before Malice saw him. Ledah was sitting not10 feet from the dividing cliff to Riviera (a 500 foot near-vertical wall of rock that divides heaven's gate from the rest of Riviera, it was made by a powerful angel mage to deter any daring sprites from infiltrating heaven and starting a war... again). Dark circles and other signs of fatigue clouded Ledah's face, evidently he hadn't gotten any sleep since the mission began.

_Was that another joke? Still so hard to tell... On a different note, how can he still be awake? Seriously, is he that paranoid that he needs to stay awake since no one else is watching him to protect him from the inevitable demon sneaking up waiting for him to drop his guard? What a weirdo..._

"Hello, Ledah; yeah, I had a little... delay in coming here and I apologize." Malice replied with as much courtesy as she could manage.

_I hate being courteous to superior angels! If he were younger, I wouldn't have to apologize; I would say something to the effect of 'good work waiting for me you sleepless paranoid idiot, good job in getting my son killed on the first fu**ing day!', but since he is the superior angel, I can't; DAMN!_

"I'll give you two a moment alone... for reasons you can probably guess..." Ledah said as he quickly slipped into shadow, and he was gone. Malice just now noticed Rose was sleeping soundly next to where Ledah was; she didn't notice Malice arrive and Malice was too busy having a mental tantrum to notice Rose.

Rose yawned and very groggily opened her eyes to see Malice standing there, diviner in hand and covered in blood. Immediately Rose stood ready to run at a moment's notice, watching Malice's every move; who knew what she would do now, diviner in hand and ready to kill?

"I heard what happened, to Ein..." Malice said, quite apathetically.

_And? Is this the point where I run away for dear life? Please be calm, please be calm... _Rose prayed in her mind as she continued to watch Malice ever so carefully.

"I want to hear it from you; was there truly an accursed? What happened? I was told Ein killed it, but I'm not sure he could... WHAT HAPPENED!?" Malice said, still fairly unemotional at first but ending on a very demanding scream; Rose was on the verge of running and probably would've if Malice took even a single step forward.

Still on guard, Rose carefully said "You heard right, I've never seen Ein fight like that before, he was so brave... and precise... The accursed was a phoenix, a beast of fire; Ledah could do little to it since his diviner is fire-based, so Ein had to fight just about alone-"

"So he really did kill it!?" Malice interrupted, in a mixture of leftover grief and new shock.

"Yeah... cut it right in half as it came to attack, but his Immoral Rosary broke from the force of the attack; I collected the pieces here but the chain was still on him when he was... taken..." Rose said, on the verge of tears; taking out the shining shards that when put together resembled the holy symbol it once was. Malice silently arranged them like a puzzle so they were back in the original shape, albeit with some missing pieces; once finished she pressed her own Immoral Rosary into her skin as hard as she could, and cried just a few tears before quickly wiping them away and regaining her composure- she had a reputation to uphold.

"I'm sure master Hector already told you, but he wasn't killed in our sight, so it is possible he's still alive..." Rose said.

_More false hope, they're all the same! He's dead! What else would the spirit do!? If I already accepted it then why can't they!?_

"Enough, let's return to the matter at hand; Ledah!" Malice called, and immediately he appeared from the shadows, evidently tired of waiting for so long and itching to get back to action.

"I cannot do anything from here until commanded, we must wait for master Hector to contact us now, so we wait." Ledah said, still as apathetic as ever.

_I'm certain he doesn't want to still wait; he wants to jump, he doesn't care how high! I so wish he wasnt' so dull, this mission is going to take sooooo long and be sooooo unbearably boring with so dull a comrade, please someone kill me now!  
*mental gasp* I will not think such thoughts! Later I will pray for forgiveness, please arrive soon master Hector!_

* * *

5 hours later, finally Hector arrived in person, not a spot of sweat nor blood tarnished his robe nor did he look at all fatigued from the long journey between heaven and earth, so to speak. Still not a moment's sleep for Ledah- or Malice, but she was far less tired than he.

"Greetings Grim Angels! It seems to me that all is going according to plan, would I be correct in that assumption?" Hector very joyously said, as if he had the honor of commanding the whole of heaven's army in this mission.

_Yeah, all is going according to plan; let's just completely forget the fact that my son died not even a day ago, you jackass! _Malice was on the verge of exploding when Ledah answered first.

"All is well, your grace, what is your next command?"

"Ledah, speaking frankly, you look terrible. Once you land and find a suitable location, get some sleep, that's an order!"

"Yes, master magi."

"Now, for now, your orders..." Hector said as he fished among his robes and came up with two tightly sealed scrolls, one labeled 'L' and the other 'M', he handed the 'L' scroll to Ledah and the 'M' scroll to Malice.

"You will read those when you land, they will direct you both where to go and what to do; I will follow later. Questions?"

"You're going to Riviera with us?" Malice blurted, more than a little surprised; immediately she regretted asking the question.

_No duh he's coming with us! Why else would he show up in person as opposed to using a shadow puppet? Here comes the 'are you really that stupid to ask me that question?' remark, DAMN! Today SUCKS!_

It didn't really happen as Malice imagined it, Hector simply acted like he didn't hear her and silently he pointed at Ledah and then at the cliff to Riviera, signaling him to go. Malice never made this drop before, so she walked carefully up to the edge and watched Ledah to see how he did it; which was initially a bad idea, looking at how far the drop was, Malice became nauseous, then gripped her fear and focused on learning rather than fearing. Ledah freefell for about 100 feet, then immediately flared his wings with such incredible force that it dislodged some of the rocks behind him as the wind caught his wings and he very quickly glided across the landscape, he soared for miles in mere moments before he disappeared into a small forest, it was assumed he landed safely.

"You've never done this before, have you?" Hector asked, not insultingly, he simply wanted to know.

"No, I'm a bit scared..." Malice said as she scooped up Rose, who squirmed a bit; evidently she didn't want to make the drop.

"Everyone has to do it for a first time, weaker angels than you have successfully landed, I'm sure you'll do fine." Hector said, with a vague hint of a smile playing across his face.

_Right... Here goes! _and just like that, Malice leaped, Rose's scream of terror quickly followed.

* * *

A.N.- seems a good place to end, as I'm sure most of you will hate me until I upload the next chapter (if anyone actually reads this by that time). My rule of thumb is around 2,000 words a chapter, and I'm above that limit, so to not bore you all, this is for your benefit, so get over it! :)


	5. A Better Life Awaits?

Mother Malice

Author's Note- Here I am, PARTY! *crickets chirp* ... Well anyways... enjoy!

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Chapter 5- A Better Life Awaits?

Malice quite simply couldn't stop laughing. Falling at incredible speed, Rose's screams of terror clearly audible and adrenaline pumping in great volumes; for a few moments, all worry escaped her- there was no Hector, there was no Ledah, there was no mission, only joy- then any joy Malice had quickly escaped her once she opened her eyes and saw the ground staring back at her. While the ground was still many hundreds of feet away, it gave her pause in her ecstasy, and reason to quit having fun and start being serious.

Malice immediately recalled what Ledah had done just a minute ago to stop falling and progress a great distance simultaneously- he simply flared his wings and the natural motion of flight (with just a pinch of magic to give direction) carried him across the landscape.

A moment of preparation was taken, and Malice did exactly as she remembered, although she used same means as Ledah she came to a different end than him. Malice had taken too long and she was falling too fast, the incredible upward force from slowing down so much in so little time put incredible pressure on Malice's wings- they felt like they were going to tear right off her back and leave her and Rose to plummet to their demise, obviously wanting to avoid that, Malice immediately retracted her wings, and thus resumed falling at a slightly slower pace.

Now a slight rush of fear rushed through Malice's mind. _Damn! What am I supposed to do now!? There's no way I'm dying here, that's for sure! If only that damn cat would stop screaming, then I could think for a moment in peace! Nevermind, keep screaming if you want- I got an idea!_

Malice flipped herself upside-down to see how far away the rock cliff was, she was more than a little surprised that she didn't hit her legs off of it, since it was hardly a foot away. Malice then carefully flipped herself perpendicular to the wall facing outward from the wall then, straightening her legs out she pushed off of the wall with all the force she could muster, while this came far from stopping her or even slowing her descent in the slightest, it did provide a sort of 'running start' for her to continue her glide. Malice again flared her wings out like a parachute but this time she successfully sailed across the landscape- now the only remaining problem was landing safely.

Malice carefully glided herself towards the same forest where Ledah landed. On the bright side, the forest wasn't so thick that trees and leaves covered every square inch of the forest floor, so Malice easily glided between them to avoid getting cut up by the branches; on a less bright side, Malice was too exhausted to land on her feet- so she didn't, but instead she landed face-first on the ground and slid across the forest floor for about 10 feet before finally coming to a grinding halt, while it didn't hurt her, it did make her clothes that were previously covered in dried blood now covered in dried blood and a skidding dirt stain running vertical-wise across her whole body.

Malice, exhausted, flipped herself onto her back and looked down at Rose; evidently, before the crash, Malice had cradled Rose in between her arms and her chest, protecting her from the crash landing, Rose had not a spot of dirt on her. Once finished screaming in terror and sure they were on solid ground, Rose quickly squeezed herself out of Malice's arms and laid on the ground, thanking god that it was over. Rose's joy at being on the ground insulted Malice a bit since she was the one flying, so she just had to ruin it for her.

"We gotta do that again sometime!" Malice said cheerfully; Malice may have been only half-lieing, but Rose still fell for it. Rose gave a shocked look to Malice and took a few steps away and then again plopped herself on the ground, too exhausted to care.

Resting on a dirt ground never felt so good, but eventually Malice stood up and Rose followed. Together they walked in relative silence, only on occasion one of them broke the silence for idle conversation just to ease the tension.

After a few minutes of walking they came upon a spring, much to the joy of them both. A picture of beauty and a true testament to nature's own natural beauty, the spring's clear waters reflected the sun's light so perfectly it seemed as if it was a spring dropped straight from heaven, shining a pure white light. So serene and peaceful was the spring that the small creatures of the forest that happened to be there taking a drink themselves weren't at all startled by Malice and Rose, even when they were right next to them.

Overwhelmed with a burning thirst that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Malice rushed to the spring, cupped her hands and splashed water in her face, part to wash the dirt from landing off and part to quench her now burning thirst, the water tasted so pure she felt even thirstier, so she took many more drinks in the same way; Rose quickly followed suit and started to sip the water as quickly as her small mouth could take it. Watching them, it almost seemed as if the small animals that weren't startled by Malice's mad rush to the spring enjoyed watching the two so voraciously drink the spring water as if they never had a drink before in their whole lives.

After a few splashes to her face, Malice shook off the excess dripping water from her face. After Malice got sufficient rest, she thought for a moment, a realization quickly dawned upon her- a very bad realization.

Malice looked at Rose, carefully thinking of what she should do with her- Rose had no master now, she was Ein's familiar, and he was... gone; and since Malice was on a mission of her own with no food with her, she had no means to take care of Rose, added to the fact that Rose would only slow her down. Even if the food problem was solved, the absolute last thing Malice wanted now was to watch Rose get killed by demons since her only protection now was Malice and Malice couldn't watch her forever- she had a job to do. The thought of killing Rose herself occurred, but Malice didn't have the heart to do it, the only remaining answer would be to leave Rose behind, not much better than just killing her off herself. Malice couldn't even take Rose to a sprite to take care of her since Malice knew no sprites or where they lived, and searching for one put them both at risk for getting killed by demons on the way _and _the mission would have to be put off for the duration of the search, something Malice wasn't about to do for a mission so urgent to the magi.

Rose noticed Malice pensively staring at her and stared back, eye to eye. After a long and awkward silence, Malice had to say something.

"Rose, you should... stay here, I can't take care of you." Malice said, quite plainly yet completely serious and straight-faced, she did everything she possibly could've done to look as sincere as possible, because she was.

Rose was far beyond shocked at this sudden statement of Malice's, at first she didn't understand- why couldn't she come with Malice? She couldn't survive on her own! But after a long moment's thought she realized she couldn't go with Malice for a few reasons, which were the same reasons that dawned upon Malice a minute before. Rose thought maybe she could go back to Asgard, but more problems arose with that: Rose's own wings weren't strong enough to carry her back to Asgard and Malice was clearly too exhausted from the drop to bring her back up, and even if she rested and tried to bring Rose up she probably didn't have the necessary wing strength for such a climb and she might get both of them killed; and no one else could help them since neither Ledah nor Hector were anywhere to be found and that's the only help they had- leaving just the one option, try her best to survive on her own.

"I understand, Malice, I won't burden you." Rose said after a long moment of silence.

"I'm mother to you, dear. You must know how much this breaks my heart, but you must see neither of us have a choice; I will pray for your safety, but there isn't much more I can do." Malice said, her voice starting to break and tears began to pour from her eyes, she quickly wiped them away.

"As I said, I understand... I probably would've made the same suggestion within the hour as well, I will pray for your best of luck as well; may we both meet again in this life and the next, _mother_." Rose smiled, and so did Malice, still wiping away her tears.

Malice clapped her hands together and closed her eyes, Rose closed her eyes as well. Both were in silent prayer for the other, as if they were already lost to each other despite the fact they were no more than a foot apart. After a minute, Malice broke the silence and flew into a nearby fruit tree and shook free all of the ripe applecots on it, carefully making sure none of them fell in the spring, and of the few that did, Malice fetched them. Once she was finished, she landed in front of Rose, took Ein's broken Immoral Rosary from her cloak pocket, carefully arranged the pieces into their original shape, and laid it in front of Rose; then without another word she flew away, tears still pouring from her eyes through the whole ordeal.

After a mile or so of flying, finally Malice's tears stopped, not slowing her pace to make up for lost time, Malice thought carefully about what just transpired and finally she came to a conclusion: she didn't regret her decision or how she handled it, but she really didn't want leave Rose behind so soon either, but what could she do? Malice deeply regretted bringing Rose to Riviera, also deeply regretting persuading her to go with Ein, which led to this.

Malice continued to fly for about 15 minutes, but the mounting guilt eventually became too much to bear, so she flew back to the spring as fast as she could; when her wings had no energy left, she landed on the ground sprinting and continued her sprint until she reached the spring, but it was abandoned, no Rose or any of the animals from earlier, the bright shining light that made the spring so beautiful was shaded by a tree, and the water looked murky in the dark. Despite the disgusting look of the water, Malice felt the need to drink some anyways, so she cupped her hands and scooped up a bit of the water and carefully brought it to her mouth and took a sip, which she immediately spit back out due to the foul taste.

A shine on the ground caught Malice's eye, when she approached it she realized it was Ein's broken rosary, slightly wet from someone's tears, maybe Rose's, maybe Malice's, probably both.

_With what hands did I expect her to take it with and what pocket did I expect her to carry it in?_ Malice giggled and cried at the same time, she then scooped up the pieces and returned them to her cloak pocket. Quickly Malice's thoughts turned from the rosary back to Rose.

_A second life ruined by a terrible decision on my part... _Malice thought, and something told her it wouldn't be the last life she ruined while on this supposed 'heavenly island of Riviera'.

Again the tears poured, this time Malice let them fall as she flew away from the forest where she endured so much pain while so little was against her- she blamed it all on herself, there wasn't anything else to blame it on, nor was anyone left to make her feel any better.

* * *

A.N.- How's that for a Malice/Rose chapter? enjoy it, it's probably going to be the only one ^_^


	6. Blood and Dreams

Mother Malice

Author's Note- Still nothing important worth mentioning but I feel the need to let you all know that I'm still alive by writing these notes… so… yeah, I'm alive and I hope you enjoyed reading this far and continue to do so if you did!

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Chapter 6: Blood and Dreams

_Malice, your mission is to collect the souls needed to power the Retribution, enclosed in this message is a soul sphere; simply kill any sentient living being and the soul will be transferred to the sphere and used to power the retribution. While I'm certain that there are enough demons in Riviera to power the retribution, with just demon souls it won't be strong enough to purify all of Riviera, some sprite souls and angel souls are required as well. For easily understood reasons, I won't charge you with getting angel souls, but you must gather many demon and sprite souls; many of both will be found at Lacrima castle, enclosed is a map of Riviera, Lacrima Castle is labelled on it, there you must kill __everyone__, demons or otherwise.__ Godspeed. -Hector_

"So... I'm going to have to kill sprites..? Is this the right thing to do? Sacrifice some mortals to save angels... is it worth it? Added with the needed angel sacrifice, there better be a hell of a lot of angels that are gonna be saved!" Malice thought aloud. Malice felt uneasy enough about killing sprites of any variety, but how was Hector going to get the angel souls? Demons are no problem, there's plenty of them and Malice has been trained to kill them since birth; but now even the thought of killing demons didn't come as easily as it once had, the locket on the demon knight flashed inside of Malice's head.

_Not all demons must be bloodthirsty killers as we are taught to believe, is there a chance that maybe the magi were wrong, or are they just liars? Why would a demon deliberately go searching for people to kill anyways? An excuse to kill everyone you see that isn't like you, isn't that what war is for? Are we at war? I thought that we have been at peace since the end of Ragnarok, was that a lie too? Perhaps I'm just too predisposed against angels since... Ein... I should focus on the mission..._

"Lacrima castle... It appears to be on the north-eastern corner of Riviera... so I got a long way to go... Better get going then!" Malice said, with enough eagerness in her voice to satisfy the ever-present eyes of the magi, but it was actually to move her mind from it's previous thoughts.

Malice flew for more than three-fourths of the day non-stop, then it became _very_ apparent that if she didn't get some sleep soon, she would fall asleep while flying- which often ends up in crashing violently, or worse. Malice looked down to find a suitable place to rest that was out-of-the-way of any possible travellers; she found a large empty grassy plain staring back at her as she slowly descended to it without realizing it. Eventually she landed wobbly on her feet equally wobbly walked up to and rested against a tree that stood all alone in the grassy plain, and quickly she fell asleep; almost 2 straight days of staying up did that to Malice on occasion.

* * *

"Malice, dear, how long are we going to keep dancing? It's getting quite late."

"Just a bit longer, It's not so late that the other couples are leaving, anyways."

Dreaming of a memory, Malice recalled her first dance with Ein's father, but he was long since forgotten by Malice; from his face to his name to who he really was, Malice could remember nothing of him. Trapped in the past exactly as it had happened, Malice knew full well she was dancing with a stranger; all she could see was his hands, the rest of him was shrouded in a black robe, shadow covering his face. The shadow couples that danced around them were negligible, they had no form to them, they were just the same as that day- not important, but for different reasons then compared to now.

Malice wanted to fight against this stranger she was dancing with, but there was some curious reason she didn't; this man, he seemed to have a slight allure, a connection, subtle yet very strong that Malice knew she couldn't possibly fight, but she tried anyways. Everything was exactly as she had remembered: each step, each spin, each breath they both took was even better than Malice would ever remember while awake, but still Malice struggled to get free from this dream, evidently to not much end since she had no control over herself.

Still her partner moved with a familiar grace that Malice remembered, his strong form was exactly as she had recalled, his hands caressed her arms like she remembered he did; all was the same but Malice couldn't seem to recall a face or even just his name. The closest thing she could remember was Ein's own face, but even after just a few days of not seeing him, the finer details of his face were fading as well.

"Is there a problem, dear? You seem so tense, so tired; would you like to stop?"

"No... I'm fine... it's just..." Malice managed to say as she was fighting herself to leave this stranger, but her body wasn't in her own control, still she danced with this stranger, on occasion managing a slight pull away from him but he always kept her in his grasp. Slowly the swaying forms around her disappeared one by one; until Malice was all alone with this familiar stranger, dancing as she continued to struggle against the elements of her own dream.

This conflicting reality lasted until the song playing from nowhere stopped, and the stranger shrouded in familiar mystery disappeared as well, leaving Malice alone. Malice fell on her knees, simply staring into the darkness of her own subconscious... until a child figure of Ein ran up to her, then just as quickly he disappeared as well, again leaving Malice all alone, and she couldn't help but cry.

A booming voice spoke in a very demonic and furiously demanding tone: "ALL THAT REMAINS IS YOUR DUTY!!"

* * *

Malice awoke in a cold sweat, breathing slightly heavier than normal. The voice frightened her so, and like the figure she danced with, it seemed so familiar, but she could put neither a face nor name to it.

_Something... I remember something... about the Cathedral of the Saints... that man has something to do with the Cathedral of the Saints in Asgard, but what? _The Cathedral of the Saints was the second-largest cathedral in all of Asgard, only a bit smaller than the Chapel of Ascendancy, the burial ground for Magi and the most exalted Grim Angels. The Cathedral of the Saints is where sprite would-be saints are officially tested by the Magi and they are either martyred on a holy pyre if they fail, or they gain the title of 'Saint' and be counted among the few who received the same title, getting their very own statue to be displayed in the chapel and their own burial ground in the cathedral's underground crypt. When Malice was young- even before she was a Grim Angel- she was an avid churchgoer at this cathedral, even after she became a Grim Angel she prayed there, despite the fact that Grim Angels are allowed to pray at the allegedly holier and much more extravagant Chapel of Ascendancy.

Refocusing her attention to gain a better idea of her surroundings, Malice looked around the field- still just as empty as when she landed. Malice quickly realized it was either late night or early morning; it was dark, but Malice proceeded anyways, she couldn't sleep now.

Malice flew for another half-day, and finally she reached Lacrima castle. Malice visited Riviera before (not through Heaven's Gate, formerly there were other ways of getting to Riviera that have since been sealed or maybe just forgotten), but Malice never visited Lacrima castle before and it greatly surprised her that it was day only an hour ago, but suddenly it was nighttime- the concept of eternal night was entirely new to Malice, but she didn't let that distract her for long.

On the hilltop overlooking the castle, Malice simply stared at the castle, summing up the will to kill her first non-demon. Not only did she have to kill _one_, she had to kill them _all._

Malice somehow managed the will to fly to the castle gate, and the first Arc she saw was of course a priest, and a very old one at that. As Malice brandished her diviner and prepared to strike him, he prayed to the gods.

"Holy father, spare me... please! Stop the servant of yours that wills my demise!" The priest said in a desperate voice as he dropped to his knees with his hands together, praying for the salvation he wasn't about to receive. This made Malice pause for a moment, but she had to do her mission.

"The holy father's voice sent me on this mission, not even he will save you now." Malice said in a half-uncaring and half-I-mean-business voice.

The man didn't try to run, or even fight back- he simply stayed in his praying pose on his knees and waited; Malice never felt more horrible in her life than this moment. Malice closed her eyes tightly and swung her diviner, followed by the sickening sound of metal cutting flesh and bones cracking; a very feminine scream pierced the air, followed promptly by rapidly clicking high-heels that gradually got softer.

Malice slowly opened her eyes to see what she had done, and immediately she vomited. The priest that had been kneeling in front of her before was now gone, replaced by two halves of a man only connected by a pool of blood and dripping organs from the opened stomach cavity- Malice had cut him in half just below his wings.

_I wish I had decapitated him, it's a bit less... Oh, god! _Once Malice finished vomiting, she looked up at the corpse again and threw up a second time- this time only a sickly green bile came out.

Arc knights in full armor and weapons ready rushed to this grisly scene, and even their trained eyes were turned away for a moment- but only a moment. The knights charged, their loud clanging armor awoke Malice from her sickness, but she had no will to fight them, much less kill them. But despite her lack of will to fight, they still rushed toward her and Malice's adrenaline was naturally pumping at this danger; the inner Grim Angel Malice took over and struck at lightning speed, Skadi sliced right through their armor as if they had none but their bare flesh. Lightning erupted violently from Skadi's blade, leaving it in the blade's bloody wake, giving the impression that even Skadi was crying bloody lightning tears at what it was being used for, but Grim Angel Malice took no notice.

The night turned red with sprite blood...

* * *

A.N.- yeah... I really didn't mean to go into that much detail in... that one part... I'm going to leave it because it helps with my otherwise lacking imagery, but I don't like it (or do I? *evil laughter*)... anyways... moving on...


	7. Falling Malice

Mother Malice

Author's Note: … Yeah… Here I am, and I'm still alive, if anyone cares (I don't just want to jump into the story, so still I write these little notes); so now I will just jump into the story as I just said I didn't want to; enjoy! On a side note, I never thought I would actually write more than 5 chapters when I started, and yet here I am at chapter 7, not really even close to finishing!

* * *

Chapter 7: Falling Malice

So many dead... and why? For what reason does the ritual to exterminate _all_ life on Riviera require some of it to begin?

Malice took small comfort that all of the arcs she was killing now would just end up dead later as a result of the Retribution, but as each progressive wave of soldiers desperately trying to stop her got smaller, she wondered what was more horrible a demise- death by the angel's diviner, or death by the Retribution?

What exactly was the Retribution, anyways? Malice was told the same thing as every other angel who asked, that being that it was the release of the deceased god's power to exterminate all life on the island of Riviera, made for just such an occasion as now; but that left so many questions unanswered. How is the god's powers released? Is it in one massive blast that destroys Riviera? Malice figured the release was something like how the first Grim Angels were born- the god's power manifests itself into another living being (or in the Grim Angel's case, beings) and that individual has the power to use that power as they see fit, in this case, to destroy all life on Riviera. Malice was satisfied with this scenario, as it explained why all the souls were needed- to provide a sort of starting point for the life that would take the power of gods, and to provide such a medium for so much power, indeed very many souls would be needed to provide enough life to not be utterly destroyed by the power of the dead gods.

_But now isn't the time for guessing what this is all for, now is the time to follow orders, no matter how gruesome they are! _Malice thought dutifully at first, then the thought of the elderly priest she killed as her first kill flashed in her head once more, and she became nauseous again.

As Malice slew wave after wave of brave warriors, she grew more and more curious toward the soul sphere. When she unwrapped it from the letter, it glowed softly a deep ocean blue, but after the many hundreds of arc souls Malice wrested from their bodies were absorbed into it, it began to glow a dark red, a sort of sanguine color, just like blood mixed with unholy darkness. Malice felt uneasy toward the gem glowing such an unholy color, and she even felt tainted by simply carrying it with her, but she didn't have a choice in the matter now- she had to do everything she was ordered to do and hope it was all for the best.

Malice quickly dodged a javelin flung at her and she quickly and effortlessly decapitated the thrower faster than he could think to escape- finally she had a moment to rest before she could resume her supposed 'holy mission' of killing innocents.

Clearing the bodies from her path, Malice rested against a tall, gleaming pillar that was fairly far from the previous carnage, as such it was minimally bloodied.

As Malice rested, her thoughts wandered to the families of all the warriors she was killing, and then by proxy she thought of her own family- Ein; but in a different direction than she expected.

_Did Hector really plan to make Ein do this if he got this far? Ein has never killed a _demon_ before this mission, killing sprites is just a whole new concept- this really is just murder under the guise of a holy mission! I feel so sick just killing one sprite, but I've had to kill over 500 within the past hour! How many does he need? The letter said all of them, but there's probably at least 100,000 arcs in all, how does he expect me to find them all, much less kill them all?_

Malice prayed, but not to the gods or Magi this time, she instead prayed to the Seraphs, great heroic angels of old given the highest rank to a non-magi angel that can be given- only 7 were ever recorded, which it is necessary to know all of them to become a Grim Angel.

Seraphs Naku, Kira, Lilla, Lucy, Benak, Entamill, and Autumn- in that order from oldest to most recent, the same order Malice learned them in, she prayed to them.

"Most holiest and exalted Seraphs, is my duty in the name of the gods? Am I truly serving the will of the gods by slaying faithful sprites?" Malice whispered softly, half-expecting some sort of holy messenger to appear to her and tell her what should be done- which of course didn't happen. Frustrated, Malice stood up and flew above the castle to find more arcs to kill.

* * *

"Seven days today, seven days of hell. Seven days of killing innocents in the name of god and salvation, and I'm almost done." Malice said to herself as she awoke and realized this.

Hector visited the day before, in the very early morning, before the sun came up- Malice was in deep sleep.

"Just 100,000 is all that's needed, just one more day of hunting should be plenty; any more that are needed we can make up with demons on the way to preparing the Retribution." Hector explained to Malice as he left, Malice said not a word back to him. Malice was a bit surprised at Hector's complete disregard for Malice killing so many, like he didn't even care, like he would've done it himself if he didn't have other duties to do, but not to a point of enjoyment of such slaying.

_Hunting he called it? We- no, _I_- am not killing animals, these are faithful, innocent sprites! Heartless Hector strikes again, I suppose. _Malice was feeling something in between relief and shock, she had killed so many arcs already, is just a few more any difference? Malice supposed not, she might as well finish what she started- she was already a mass murderer, what does a few more matter?

Malice couldn't help but feel the deepest regret possible for a living being to feel toward her own actions; tears came once again, a minute of flat out sobbing, then nothing. Malice continued her mission with an icy determination- she would go in the name of not an angel working for god, but on master Hector's word alone; she was an angel no longer, once her actions were found out by the rest of the magi, she would become a fallen angel, and that's one step away from a demon.

99,739 arcs slain since she began, now even the most brutal form of butchery she could contemplate for killing these innocent beings didn't faze her in the least bit. Since the first day, she visited her first kill 3 times, twice she got sick when there: when she first made the kill and her first visit on the first day when looking for a suitable place to sleep.

This senseless butchery didn't make her sick anymore, but she still took no joy in it; with one exception of an arc that thought he would be the big hero and slay the 'vile demon' after a climactic battle probably involving dramatic explosions and a princess in need of saving. There was no princess in need of saving, and after a speech about how heroic he was and a continuation of said speech about how demonic and how much of a 'vile-looking angel poser' Malice was, the arc 'hero' challenged Malice to a one-on-one duel; after blindly charging forward and tripping on a flat castle floor, Malice cut off his arms and let him run away while sobbing loudly until he bled to death- Malice couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic he was, well aware that she was laughing at the death of a sprite she was supposed to be protecting.

Malice's dulled sense of guilt at this massacre was reflected in her diviner, Skadi. On the first day, Skadi seemed to be crying tears of lightning, but now each kill it simply made a soft crackling sound, like it still didn't like the blood of sprites, but after so much it didn't seem to care.

_Loss of feelings is the first step on the road to demon-hood, but what does it matter anymore? No one left to protect, I'm surprised suicide never occurred to me before now! I won't do it now, at least not until this mission is over. Suicide or a slow transformation to a demon, what is worse? Ein... he's waiting for me... we'll meet again soon, my dear son... The choice is clear, but not now, not here..._

Hours passed, and all was the same as the days before. Malice flew across the area the arcs were known to live, the most of the remaining arcs were either attempting to hide or attempting to bury their family and friends before Malice caught them. Two hundred and fifty five arcs Malice found before noon, leaving just 6 arcs to kill. Malice flew through Lacrima castle one last time to see if anyone hid in its massive towers. Strangely enough, as Malice was flying to the north tower, a golden shine appeared from a window below, something golden in color reflected the moonlight perfectly into Malice's eye, but she dismissed it as just some treasure dropped by a deceased arc (some of the greedier ones wouldn't leave without looting the castle, so Malice often spilled their golden findings on their bodies, that happened at least 10 times).

Malice found a family huddled together at the peak of the north tower: a mother, father, two sons, and an infant daughter. Malice paused at the doorway to the staircase as they prayed her for mercy, Skadi's blade was not dulled in the least by their prayers, nor by their screams or their flesh and blood.

_One left... just a single arc is left... perhaps I should just leave, I think it's getting late, though it's hard to tell with just one single, unmoving moon. _Malice leaped out a small window barely big enough for her wings to fit through.

Malice's attention was immediately drawn to a girl, not older than 20, running across the rooftops, evidently an arc, and very panicked. The girl seemed to be perfectly camouflaged with her surroundings- dark blue or black clothing that, from a distance, was exactly the same color as the roof tiles reflecting the moonlight; Malice wouldn't have noticed her if not for the fact that she was running.

Malice didn't know if the panicked girl saw her in flight above, but nonetheless Malice swooped for kill number 100,000.

_I don't think I've even killed 100,000 demons! _Malice thought as she neared the girl, who at the last moment spun around on her heel and blocked Malice's strike with a scythe Malice didn't previously notice. The scythe seemed to draw in all light around it like a black hole, the blade was jet-black and the handle a navy blue, the same color as most of the girl's clothing, Malice noticed.

Skadi and the 'Noire Scythe', as Malice named it the moment she had to admire it, collided in a loud screech very familiar to Malice of metal clashing with metal. Malice used a brief moment of inaction to push off and land safely several feet away, she reassessed and charged again.

"You're not getting away from me, pretty girl!" Malice sneered as she rushed, the girl retorted with something Malice didn't hear in her battle fury. When Malice was very near, a bloodthirsty Skadi shot lightning at Malice's loud verbal command, and it struck the girl before she could even react to Malice's charge- or so Malice thought. After a moment, Malice noticed some of her own wing feathers were cut off of her wingtip. Driven to a rage, Malice looked for her prey, the Scythe Girl fell on her back as a result of the lightning and scrambled to the edge of the roof, and purposely climbed off.

_The ground has to be at least 50 feet down! Is she more afraid of me than death? I suppose I would be, too._ Malice thought as she walked over to survey the body, then she got her answer as to why the girl climbed off of the building- she didn't commit suicide as Malice thought, but she rather climbed through a large crack in the masonry in between the main wall and the roof in that exact spot; while the crack was quite large, it wasn't large enough for Malice and her much larger wings to fit through.

_Damn lucky witch! I'll find another way in, she won't be my first not-kill!_

Malice flew along the wall until she found a large enough window not even 30 feet away, and immediately after entering she saw her target leaning heavily on her scythe and wobbling toward a few moving figures; Malice heard voices, but she was too angry and too far away to hear anything specific. In her vengeful fury, Malice glided swiftly along with her eyes fixed on her target, who was facing the opposite direction. Malice struck, expecting to hear a scream and the familiar sound of her diviner violating weak flesh, instead she heard the familiar screech of metal clashing with metal. Cursing loudly in her head and wondering what stopped her, she leaped back and took full view of the Scythe-Girl's defender.

"...Ein!?"

* * *

A.N.- Seems the logical place to end a chapter; I wonder, what do all my readers (there's not that many, I've seen the traffic sheet!) think will happen next? Will Malice join her son Ein, or will she continue to serve Hector? This point of the story has been through my head on several different occasions, and I've come up with a likely scenario, which will wait!

*crowd boos and throws rotten fruit, Mystic Cake beats a hasty retreat*


	8. Choosing a Side

Mother Malice

A.N.- Oooh, now's the big climactic scene where Malice realizes Ein was never dead 0_0, let's see what happens!

* * *

Chapter 8- Choosing a Side

"Ein!?" Malice gasped. Malice's breathing pattern changed, now each breath came quickly and loudly, she could scarcely believe that Ein was standing in front of her; if God himself appeared before Malice it would have been easier believed to Malice than if her supposed-to-be-dead son was, which was exactly the situation she found herself in.

"Do I know you?" Ein asked, surprised and more than a little taken aback by her loud gasping and her calling him by his name- he could not remember her at all, but then he also didn't know what the moon was just a few minutes earlier so somehow he was inclined to believe her, now the only problem was if Malice believed Ein.

Malice was stunned at Ein's inability to remember her. _Is this my son? It can't be... but he holds Einher Jar, Ein's diviner that no sprite can hold, and he is exactly as I could remember- it hasn't been _that_ long, not even 2 weeks since I've last seen him! That's got to be him, but why doesn't he recognize me? And more importantly, who are those girls with him? _Malice privately fumed as a girl with long green hair and wearing a white and black bress who was previously standing behind Ein stepped forward.

"How do you know Ein?" She asked in a very gentle and caring, but also very frim and confident voice.

At first Malice didn't answer, there was only one thing that could settle her doubts about whether this was her son or not. Malice dropped her diviner and walked toward the group, none of them readying their weapons since without a weapon she was perceived as less of a threat. Malice put her left hand on Ein's shoulder, in close proximity to his neck while her right hand searched her robe pockets. Malice came up with the pieces to the Immoral Rosary, then her left hand found what it was looking for- the chain to the Rosary. Malice compared the top part of the broken rosary to the golden chain around Ein's neck- they matched up perfectly. Malice lost control of herself and dropped the part of the Rosary she was holding and pulled Ein into a close hug, Ein was quite panicked since he really had no idea how to respond, so he just stood limply there until Malice elected to release him, then he took a few steps back, still not entirely sure who this woman was; reading his mind, Malice explained who she was, also answering the green haired girl's so far unanswered question.

"I'm your _mother _Ein, Malice, remember?" Malice asked in hopes that that would somehow make him remember, Ein shook his head- no. Malice expected this, since if he didn't recognize her by sight then he wouldn't remember her by name, so Malice directed her attention to the girls around Ein rather than toward Ein himself.

"Now, the question _I_ have for _you_ girls is how do _you_ know_ him_?" Malice demanded, adding a very slight yet very apparent amount of disdain she had toward the girls around Ein, as she was expected to.

"I've been taking care of Ein since I've found him on the road outside of my town..." The kind green haired girl explained, something told Malice she wasn't lying.

Malice closely examined the group of females surrounding Ein for a moment to see if they could have anything to do with his forgetfulness- there was the green haired girl, who seemed honest, pure and kind- like a priestess, but more like a warrior in the way she held her rapier, still in her hand in case Ein's probably overly-emotional 'mother' decided to free her son from the evil clutches of the sprites that held him by way of brutal murder- not likely to happen.

The other girl next to Ein looked young- like only 13 or 14 to Malice, she looked so childish, why was she in a warzone like this? Probably to slay the evil angel Malice and save the day like the arc boy tried, but Malice wouldn't dare to do the same thing to her as she did to the arc. The young girl held a large bow about twice her size and probably twice her weight in her small hands, Malice wondered if she could even fire that bow, if she did manage to fire it its arrows would be quite fast and thus, deadly.

Behind Ein and the other two girls was Malice's previous target, the Scythe Girl shivered in a dark corner leaning against a pillar watching this situation develop itself, while keeping a sharp eye on Malice just in case she decided to finish the job, by now that was also unlikely to happen.

And then there was Ein, he looked exactly the same as Malice could remember- same clothes, same aloof look, same style of holding his sheathed diviner while an inevitable conflict boils- it was the same Ein.

_Perhaps his forgetfulness and being in the company of these females was the doing of that spirit that took him away, that spirit must have a very perverted sense of humor... _Malice thought scornfully.

"You're an angel..." Ein said, almost to a point of reverence, like a common sprite would when speaking to an angel. "If you're really my mother, does that mean I'm an angel too?"

_He must not remember anything! Evidently that diviner he carries is just a jagged sword to him!_

"You are not just an angel, but a Grim Angel, like myself." Malice answered as high and mightily as she could, she was, after all, a servant of the Voice of God- that's something to be proud of.

"You're an angel?" Scythe Girl scoffed from her dark corner in the back of everyone, insulting Malice greatly and only fueling her desire to remove her pretty head from the rest of her body. "Then why, WHY MURDER MY PEOPLE!?" Scythe girl yelled, everyone turned to Malice with a gasp then a glare, Ein's glare was the coldest.

_Damn, I suppose that's true, but if I'd known he was alive-... what would I have done? Probably nothing different, honestly, so what does it matter? This isn't going as I had hoped..._

"You're the reason the arcs are all dead?" The young-looking girl said in a very childish voice that Malice found quite irritating. All of the girls drew their weapons on Malice, thus releasing Grim Angel Malice; this negotiation was over, Ein was lost to these sprite girls and their twisted desires.

"I'm doing my job, like my son was when he was taken from me by a dark spirit and given to you harlots." Malice said heartlessly as she raised Skadi to a ready position, now only Ein stood alone without his weapon at the ready, he simply continued to glare at Malice.

"I don't care who you are, I won't accept a mass murderer for a mother; I'm not your son, you're not my mother." Ein said in a cold voice, Einher Jar was now raised.

"If I'm not your mother, you're not an angel; as a sprite, I've been ordered to kill you... goodbye, Ein, say hi to Rose for me..." Malice said as everyone but the injured Scythe Girl charged toward her.

* * *

Arrows flew, blades clashed, and sparks of lightning flew from Skadi until no one could fight any longer; Malice was far too exhausted from slaying all of the arcs earlier that she couldn't finish the fight. Not a single blade nor arrow connected with its target and the only result of the battle was now everyone was tired.

_Damn sprite girls, they're more skilled than I thought, a lot more skilled than most of the arc knights I killed! Then there's Ein... he doesn't seem to remember anything _except_ how to fight!_ Malice growled mentally during a pause in the fighting as everyone caught their breath.

_"I can help you.. release my power and they will fall..." _a voice hissed in Malice's head. Not one of the girls against Malice or Ein spoke, so Malice quickly looked around to find the source of the voice; she couldn't find it.

_What the hell was that?_ Malice thought, and the voice returned with an answer.

_"It's me, your diviner... release my power, it can save your son from those... damned humans..." _The voice hissed again.

_Release it's power? That seems a bit dangerous, but I'm certain I can control my diviner and aim its fury toward those girls- I've contolled it before, but since when can my diviner talk to me? Its never done that before!_ Malice thought, as if asking her diviner when it gained the ability to talk; she got no answer, so she did as it suggested and allowed the diviner's power to enrich her body with renewed strength- Malice had awakened.

Malice lost control of her body, but that's normal. Malice flew up above the still-exhausted group of sprites and Ein, did a few quick swipes from her aerial position at the unsuspecting girls that could scarcely dodge enough to make the deadly diviner hit non-essential parts of their bodies, both of the girls that were in fighting condition were both knocked unconscious by a strike to the head from the blunt side of Skadi. Malice then landed in the middle of the broken group, none of them could stop her- Ein was the only one conscious and well enough to fight, but he was too battle-fatigued to do much but turn around and watch. Malice's diviner prepared its final strike to slay them all, still carefully directed away from Ein, when the air behind Malice was rended apart by the passage of a blade. The strike was too slow to be a deliberate attempt on Malice's life, but still fast enough to divert her attention to the source of the strike. Evidently Ein still had enough energy to save those damn sprite girls that corrupted him against his own mother.

Malice turned and blocked a strike by Einher Jar, taking a bit of morbid enjoyment in the familiar sound of metal clashing with metal since there was so little enjoyment to be had fighting her own son, but this time Malice noted that the sound was _different_. The normal sound of a diviner clashing with a normal blade is a high-pitch sort of screech until the point when the other weapon breaks since diviners are much superior to any other type of weaponry; but this time the pitch of the clashing of metal seemed much higher as the blades grinded against each other, it was so high-pitched it was almost unbearable on both sides- the diviners were _crying_.

Bloodthirsty Skadi releasing its power into Malice's body didn't help the least bit with her will to strike her son. Just as Malice couldn't harm Ein, Skadi couldn't harm Einher Jar- they were all kin in some way, they all fought together at some point, and fighting against each other was unbearable for both axe and angel, so Malice and Skadi quit trying, here and now wasn't the best time to fight family.

Malice flew far above Ein's reach, then she glided to a spot about 15 feet away and resumed her rest, but this time with no plans to continue as opposed to minimal plans for attacking.

"One last chance Ein, come back to me; come back to where you belong." Malice pleaded, not really expecting him to say yes, but she certainly was hoping he would.

"Never. I belong here, with my friends." Ein said between deep breaths.

Malice shook her head mournfully. "Then next time, we fight until one side cannot. Ein, best of luck on your journey to the abyss, I pray we do not meet again in this world." Malice said as she flew out the large window she used to enter, not taking a single look back- not that it mattered, her eyes were too clouded with tears to see anything but the exit anyways.

* * *

A.N.- T_T It's so sad when children and parents try to kill each other since the parent is a blind follower of a power-hungry maniac and commits mass acts of genocide that the child doesn't approve of for obvious reasons, damn good thing that it probably doesn't happen too often in the real world, at least I hope not!


	9. Life was Once so Simple

Chapter 9: Life was Once so Simple...

* * *

Malice flew- that's all, she flew. Malice had neither a plan on what to do next, nor did she have any idea where she was going; south-westward... maybe- Malice's sense of direction was kind of... clouded from recent events.

When Malice started to descend from the sky, her surroundings were very... blank. Just dry, barren prarie as far as the eye could see; no trees, no hills, just plain, flat land.

Malice set down in the long stretch of empty prarie, by this point she was far away enough from Lacrima castle where normal sun-and-moon shifts occur; it was midday at this point, the sun high in the sky with not a single cloud in the sky to break the sun's oven-like grip on the area, baking the prarie that was completely devoid of any sort of shade to a scorching temperature- not that Malice noticed or care.

Malice glided to the ground at incredible speed, not nearly slowing down as the ground came up on her, she landed on the ground running, but she had neither the energy nor the willpower to continue, and her legs seemed to get left behind as Malice crashed face-first into the flimsy brown grass that crunched under her weight; Malice immediately flopped herself onto her back, facing the shining bright sun, hoping it would offer some clear light into her storming mind.

_What... what do I do?_ Malice thought frantically, covering her eyes from the sun with her hands, they immediately became wet with tears- she had been crying this whole time, t'was the only water in the prarie.

_I've been tasked to destroy Riviera... but... how can I bring myself to fight my son, who would stand with those... harlots! Those... sprites!_ Malice's mind thought largely around this conflict for several minutes. Eventually the heat broke Malice's mental storm, focusing her attention away from Ein and Riviera- probably for the best, but she was still equally frustrated.

After a solid 5 minutes of feeling the heat, Malice wiped her tears from her face and quickly sat up, then she jumped right to her feet; she already was sweating profusely, and with no shade in sight, she grew frustrated.

"UGH! This damn heat... I need to find shade, or else make it myself..." Malice cracked her neck and readied Skadi, and with one mighty swing, she displaced a huge amount of grass and dirt, forming a massive and fairly deep hole in the otherwise blank and empty grassland- there was still little shade, but the dirt at the bottom was at least cooler than the crunchy brown grass that faced the sun all day. Malice jumped down into the hole, made a makeshift bed-area by flattening the bottom of the hole close to the edge of the hole, with a steep wall forming a shield against the heat- not now at high noon, but later when the sun was setting, there would be shade, for now the cool dirt would have to suffice.

Not one to care much about her clothes getting a little dirty, Malice sat down in her flattened bed-area and flared her wings widely, forming an umbrella-like effect over herself to shield herself from the sun, and she continued planning her next course of action, the heat was... lessened, but still it was on her mind, and a light drizzle of sweat on her head, which she tried to ignore.

_Right... so... about Ein..._ Malice took a deep breath and focused herself, she soon forgot all about the heat.

_What to do, what to do... My only son is against me, standing against the will of the gods and council of magi to protect humans- while an admirable cause, it means demons will grow in strength; on the other side, a magus, superior to myself, has invoked his god-given right to conscript me to his service- which I accepted, albeit with... resistance- and thus I must obey his command... The gods both forbid disobeying the direct command of a superior angel, and also of slaying one's own family, much less turning against them... Ein may have turned against the angels, but he is still my son, and I... cannot kill him, and neither could I simply turn a blind eye as I let another do the same... So what can I do? Either way, I'm wrong..._

Malice sighed, there seemed no clear answer to her, and she couldn't necessarily just do nothing, either, that was the same as killing Ein just the same- there was no way he'd be able to stand up to Ledah, much less Hector.

"I need... help... I need... guidance..." Malice finally decided, decision on her own seemed impossible.

_But who do I go for help? I can hardly go to either Ein, Ledah, or Hector, since none of them are unbiased and could tell me something other than 'you should side with us', but they're the only ones who could understand my situation! I can't necessarily just ask a sprite... especially after Lacrima Castle, someone might recognize me... But who else is there? I can't go back to Asgard, either, so what else is there to do? I guess I'm back to square one..._

Malice sighed again, this time longer and more frustrated than the last- her options were, officially, zero.

Maybe... maybe some sleep will do me some good, maybe I'm just tired... Malice thought hopefully, and after a quick departure of her hole to get some grass to use as a makeshift pillow, Malice returned to her hole and fell asleep in the dirt.

* * *

As if she stepped back in time, Malice looked upon a landscape most familiar- Asgard, home of the angels. The landscape beyond the main city still took up most of the heavenly island, so this was quite some time ago, Malice guessed only a hundred years or so after Ragnarok, enough time for the scars of war to be healed, but not long enough for the angels to flourish from the absence of demons.

_"What... is this..? Am I... dreaming?"_ Malice wondered aloud as she slowly descended to the ground- it was a grassland, much like the one she was just in, though certainly this one saw much more rainfall, the grass was green, the trees were sparse, but tall and leafy, and the surroundings were lightly dotted with small hills. Shortly after touching down, Malice spotted a young couple not 20 feet away and approaching fast, running as if they were late for work, they went right past Malice. As they passed, Malice recognized them both- one was none other than herself, albeit a few hun- um... only a few years younger, andthe other was... him... Ein's Father, though still the weathering of time had clouded his face, even in her dreams.

"Is there a reason we're running? I hardly think where we're going is going to just get up and leave without us." Malice asked, being pulled along behind, she struggled to keep up, not being as fit as him- she wasn't a grim angel yet, just a young girl with her entire life ahead of her.

"It's going to start soon, we have to hurry or we'll miss it!"

"Alright, alright, but why can't we just fly there? Wouldn't that make this so much faster?"

"No, I don't want you to see it until juuuust the right moment- no flying, we're almost there anyways, it's just up this hill!"

_Heh... he always said the cheesiest things 'juuuuust the right moment'... hilarious, in retrospect..._ Older Malice laughed, following the couple with amusement.

_"Whatever you say, you're the boss here!"_ Young Malice giggled, running right behind him, almost losing her balance after missing a step, but after her legs frantically stomped forward she regained her balance, he never even noticed.

_Ugh... so glad I didn't fall then... that would've been just-_

"Ah!" Young Malice slid right to the ground, it only seemed like she regained her balance from her previous slip-up, but it was only temporary, since Ein's Father never slowed down, she fell just the same, just a bit later.

_Oh yeah... I did... I guess I just don't remember because of what happened after..._ Older Malice averted her gaze out of sheer embarassment.

"Oh I'm sorry, sweetie, but you picked a good time to fall, we're here!" Ein's Father gave his cheesy remark- if he had said that to Malice now, she would've punched him in his nose, but back then... she was much less aggressive, and she only laughed awkwardly as he helped her sit up, and he sat squatted down next to her.

And there it is again... I just want to... kick his teeth in now... ah well, not much I can do now... Older Malice chuckled lightly, positioning herself next to her younger self, facing the same direction, figuring it would probably be best to largely repeat herself as she did back then, to make the experience almost as incredible as it was back then- of course it couldn't be AS impressive as back then, since she knew what was coming.

They were on top of a hill some distance into the field- there wasn't much ahead, just a small stretch of the plain ahead and then the straight fall downward- nothing any angel over 3 years old would be impressed by, and it was getting late, the sun was only just barely peeking over the horizon- on the other side of the island.

"So... what? We stare at the edge of this island? How... romantic..." Young Malice remarked sarcastically.

"No, we stare at that." Ein's father motioned towards where they came from, making a light hop and turning himself around since he was still on his feet; Young Malice, on the other hand, was sitting down, so she shifted herself and turned back to where they came from, Older Malice did likewise.

The sight was... incredible. The setting sun shined over the glistening city of angels, making it shine like a star had landed on the island, even in the distance, they could still see a few dispersed angels break the bright light as they streaked across the sky on their respective businesses; this sight's great radiance and brightness was difficult to look at for Young Malice, at first, but soon her eyes got used to the brightness and could take in the sight full-scope like Ein's Father and Older Malice could.

_I remember it... I used to come here all the time after he..._ Older Malice thought painfully, already turning away from this incredible sight, for the pain of the memory.

"I used to come here all the time as a kid... after a hard day of training, I'd come here to rest and just... take in the sights..." Ein's Father said, taking in the sight with the same simple light smile on his face as he had every time he saw it; Young Malice, on the other hand, was in complete shock, she hadn't come out of the city but for a few chosen times before this, and she never really had time to appreciate the few sunsets she saw in the middle of the city, and they weren't that impressive, usually just a ray of sunlight that managed to peek through the many tall buildings- that's all.

Young Malice was speechless, and after his first comment, so was Ein's Father, right up until the sun disappeared behind the cityscape- it took about 3 minutes, since they arrived late, but to Young Malice, that may as well have been 3 hours.

Even after the sun was blocked by the city and the spectacle over, Young Malice still stared blankly at the landscape, unsure of how to react or what to say. After another two minutes or so of staring blankly- Ein's Father as well, if only to let Malice take in the sight at her own pace- Young malice turned back to Ein's Father, and he followed in suit.

"So? How'd you like it?" Ein's Father asked smoothly.

_Oh gee, I wonder what happens next?..._ Older Malice smirked, knowing full well what happened next, still staying faced away from the couple.

Young Malice jumped on top of Ein's Father, knocking him to the ground in surprise, then she crawled so her face was at his face-level, compensating for the height difference, and she kissed him... long, about 20 seconds or so, before she broke contact- the look on Ein's Father's face was almost an exact mirror of Malice's when she saw the sunset.

"Wow... uhh..." Ein's Father was at a loss of words- a rare event, he _always_ had something to say.

_Here comes my favorite part!_

"So... what happens next..?" Ein's father asked, still on the ground with Young Malice on top of him.

"Nothing." Young Malice said with a tight smirk on her face. "That's all you get for one sunset- I'm only returning the favor."

_Smartasses, both of you..._ Older Malice couldn't help but laugh.

Almost as if the sun and all light was suddenly put out, the surrounding landscape was suddenly swallowed up in a wave of darkness, taking everything inside it- the sky, the city in the distance, the surrounding landscape, and even the young couple and the very ground beneath her feet, leaving Malice all alone in darkness.

* * *

A.N.- I know it's been a while... like, more than half a year or so, I know, but somehow... now seemed the right time to post a chapter... and to get rid of all those terribly-written poor excuse for continuation of what used to be a decent story... I got some good ideas for later, but I have no idea how far I'm going to get before I stop posting new chapters, on account of my stupidly long weekly work schedule; so no promises on continuation, but here you go, if anyone's still reading.


	10. The Next Step

Chapter 10: The Next Step

A.N.- Well I feel like I'm in the Riviera mood, which I certainly haven't felt in a loooooong while, so here's an update, mostly in thanks of the latest review from Guardian Mikey.

* * *

Malice awoke abruptly to very sore wings and muscle cramps- who knew that literally sleeping in the dirt wasn't healthy? Malice stood up and stretched her aching muscles and fluttered her sore wings, shaking some of the dirt out of them in the progress. While she was at it, Malice figured it would be best if she brushed some of the dirt off of her clothes. Try as she might, the dirt had stained her clothes, only hard scrubbing would get them out at this point, not a half-asleep shake-off.

"Damn it... I'll wory about that later." Malice sighed. The air had gotten noticibly cooler than when Malice had landed, probably on account that it was now night.

_Huh... how long was I asleep?_ Malice wondered, at that moment she brushed the back of her forearm against herforehead to clear some of the dirt off of her face, only to be greeted with a wave of pain in doing so.

"OWOWOWOWOW! What the..?" Malice screamed, gently running her fingers over her forehead- it hurt. A lot. Apparently Malice's little dirt hole did't protect her against the elements too well...

_SUNBURN!? UGH! I AM NEVER SLEEPING OUTSIDE EVER AGAIN!_ Malice mentally raged.

Having awakened sufficiently and invigorated herself thorugh rage, Malice gripped dirty Skadi, flared her wings and flew out of the hole just as the mass of dust kicked up from her large wings billowed out around her, covering her little hole in the ground in a dirt cloud.

Once back on solid ground, Malice looked ahead. Still nothing. Just flat plains and night.

So what now? That little dirt nap didn't help much, so what do I do now? Fly some more and hope the answer comes to me? Flying won't bring me the answer I seek... or rather, it's not any more likely to bring me any answers than sleeping in the sun... so what do I do?

Malice sat down in the grass and thought it over for a moment.

_I guess the first thing I should do is think- what, exactly, am I seeking the answer for? What question is there that I'm trying to answer? What to do about Ein? Or Hector? Maybe my question should be 'what am I supposed to do?'..._

Malice closed her eyes, but not to sleep this time. The sight of the depressing, empty prarie was a distraction at te moment, she needed to think. Or perhaps 'meditate' would have been more accurate.

The way Malice could figure it, there were 2 paths ahead of her- one leading to Riviera, and the other to Asgard. The path to Asgard was straight and clear- one familiar to Malice, a path strewn with straightforward duty, not exactly a thrilling life, but it was clear and straight, if a bit grey and boring. Straight and well-known was good in Malice's book, but boring certainly wasn't.

But by contrast, the path to Riviera was winding and foggy, unclear, but fraught with mystery and excitement- leaping into the unknown wasn't the best idea in Malice's book... at least not all the time, but excitement was certainly a plus.

_Just seeing that, the clear choice is Asgard... it is a very basic test of temptation... I cannot forsake my duty as an angel for mere personal enjoyment._ Malice thought, but she knew full well it was not that simple- because Ein was involved.

Ein stood a ways down the path to Riviera, just standing there, looking back at Malice. Just looking back, not glaring or smiling, just a flat stare before without any sort of emotion or recognition attached. With Ein involved things became significantly more complicated- it was no longer a test of temptation, now it was a choice between family and duty. As an angel, a strong sense of duty was instilled in Malice from a very young age, but she certainly couldn't just ignore her maternal instincts- those ingrained circuits that rebelled against any logic or authority or whatever else might be in the way... all for Ein.

"WHY? WHY DID HE TURN AGAINST? AGAINST THE GODS?" Malice screamed; to her, the failure was not entirely Ein's- she raised him, she instilled in him his values, an evidently he held women closer to his heart than his duty as an angel.

_Ein... he's not like that... he knows better... no, he wouldn't do it just for women... though he is at that age... no, I trust him, he'd only do it if he had a good reason for it... but why? What reason is there that justifies turning against the will of the magi, the will of the gods?_

Malice racked her brain, exploring every possibility she could think of that didn't involve those sprite women, at least not directly. Few ideas came that stood up to any sort of reasoning, and they all hinged on one thing- the spirit that separated Ein from Ledah and Rose in the first place.

_That spirit... what manner of trickery did it weave over my son? Brainwashing seems likely- he could't even remember me! Yes, that must be it! The spirit erased his memories and forced him to do her bidding, like a filthy demon! Therein lies the crux of the issue- the spirit behind it all, not Ein. If I can destroy this spirit or else remove its hold upon my son, then all will be solved- Ein will return to me, and together we will activate the Retribution. Yes! It's perfect! First, I must find out more about this spirit... I should find Master Hector, if he can't tell me anything then I'll seek out Ledah, who can certainly tell me more..._

Malice was now emboldened with a new course of action that, upon light reflection, really didn't differ from what she would have done had Ein never appeared at Lacrima Castle.

_But how do I find Master Hector? He usually comes to me when he wants to... maybe the letter with my orders will give me some answers..?_

Malice took out he letter with her orders in it, she hadn't read it since she landed upon Riviera... after Rose left, that is. It simply stated what she was supposed to do, it didn't say anything about what happened when she finished, like she was... with one slight exception.

_So I wait for him to come to me? Ugh, I hate seniorty rights, I really do... he can come to me whenever he damn well pleases, but when I need to talk to him, I gotta wait._ Malice thought coldly. Well, I guess now I wait. Not much else I can do...

Malice opened her eyes, focusing on the world around her rather than just her thoughts. The first thing that met her gaze was, of course, Hector, who was standing hardly 5 feet away, greeting her with a tight smile.

Malice let out an ear-splitting shriek, she was MORE than startled by his sudden appearance, how could one with such a powerful, commanding aura make an approach as silent and invisible as a mouse?

"Greetings angel Malice, you got some color during my absence, huh?" Hector greeted smartly, referring to Malice's recent sunburn, which she had to fight the urge to turn away from him to hide it, but doing that would be a great sign of disrespect, also Malice's pride wouldn't allow him to get the better of her again.

"I suppose so, I finished the task you gave me early so I figured I could sunbathe a bit while I waited for you." Malice retorted. "Perhaps you should get some sun yourself, noble magi, you look as white as a sheet."

"Perhaps." Hector said, letting the warm greeting end at that, now it was business time. "So you gathered all the required souls, then?"

"If by that you mean everyone at Lacrima Castle, then yes." Malice replied, handing him the crimson-colored soul sphere from the inner folds of her robes.

"Excellent." Hector said after examining the sphere, then putting it into his own robes. "I sense you are troubled, is there something you wish to say to me?"

Shoot he's sharp... I guess one doesn't become a magi without being able to read people... Malice thought.

"Yes... it's about Ein..." Malice began uneasily, not sure where to go from there.

Should I tell him about Ein? No, I don't think that would be wise... I should just ask about the spirit...

"The spirit that took him away, is there anything you can tell me about it?" Malice asked sharply, without a moment's further hesitation.

"You should be careful, Malice, the path to revenge is a dark one, one that many angels have fallen from grace for following." Hector said.

_So he thinks this is for revenge... well, I suppose that's not completely inaccurate... it serves my purposes for him to think that, I suppose..._

"I was just thinking that perhaps a spirit with enough power to control an accursed and fell a Grim Angel would provide ample power for the Retribution... though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't suggesting it partly for personal satisfaction." Malice replied.

Hector paused for a moment, mulling over whether or not he should actually tell her what he knew of the spirit. She was right about it providing power for the Retribution, it would certainly provide much energy, but he risked losing Malice, who was quite the asset. He chose to risk it.

"The spirit... her name is Ursula, her physical body was destroyed long ago during Ragnarok, now she acts as the self-appointed 'Guardian of Riviera'. She is a powerful spirit, but at the same time her power is limited- she cannot fight as even the most junior Grim Angel can, but her magic could turn even the most powerful demons to her side, as you well know. Her ties to this land is a millenia strong, so erasing her won't be easy, but if you can manage it, we might not need too many more souls to power the Retribution." Hector explained.

"Is there any way I can find her that you know of? And when I do find her, do you know of a way for me to defeat her?" Malice asked. Hector again paused, but not because he wasn't sure if he should tell her, it was because he simply didn't know either answer.

"I'm not sure in either case... for contacting her, you may want to ask the people of Riviera- they might know a way to summon her. As for killing her... that may be significantly more difficult... I doubt that asking around will get you an answer... you may have to come up with something yourself. I will certainly look into it, but I can promise nothing."

"I understand, I may be able to find something if I ask magical scholars or look into some books. Thank you, master Hector." Malice bowed.

"Your work is appreciated. Your next task is to officially look into the spirit known as Ursula and find a way to defeat her. If this is not possible or too difficult to be practical, then you'll return to your soul-hunting as you were." Hector said.

"Of course."

Hector vanished, leaving Malice to check the map that she got with her assignment letter, finding the nearest town, she took a moment to get her bearings and then she set off towards the nearest town.


End file.
